GALLE: Australia’s Steve Smith on Wednesday joined a small group of batters to reach 10,000 Test runs during the first day of the opening Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium. 

When Smith started batting, he was on 9,999 runs and pushed for a single on the first ball he faced off Prabath Jayasuriya and became the 15th red-ball cricketer and fourth Australian to achieve the prestigious feat. 

To celebrate the milestone, the stand-in skipper raised his bat and acknowledged the praise and ovation from the crowd at Galle. 

“Fortunately hit that one in the gap so nice to get that one away,” the 35-year-old told Australia’s 7Cricket.

“Nice to tick that off,” he added.

Smith joined fellow Australians Ricky Ponting, Allan Border and Steve Waugh in a list led by India’s Sachin Tendulkar, who made 15,921 runs in his red-ball career.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was the first to cross 10,000 runs in Test cricket when he achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1987 at Ahmedabad.

Smith is leading Australia in the two-match Test series after regular captain Pat Cummins opted out due to the birth of his second child.

He has an impressive average of more than 55 across 114 prior Tests, including 34 centuries since his debut in 2010.

Smith started as a leg-spinner who batted at number eight but soon rose to become the number one Test batter and captain of Australia.

Smith is recognised as a modern-day great and part of a famous quartet of new-era batsmen including India’s Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson of New Zealand and England’s Joe Root.